Dukies in the NBA 2021-22

[Peter]

big Zion.jpg


To date: 85 career NBA games played, 83 missed.

"It’s not even worth getting rancorous now. If you’re still getting fooled, the joke is on you. In three years there have been so many missed benchmarks, empty timelines and impossibly complex explanations for a player missing months longer than he was supposed to that there’s simply nothing left to say." - Scott Kushner, nola.com

https://www.nola.com/sports/pelicans...4bbb467f6.html

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

big Zion.jpg


To date: 85 career NBA games played, 83 missed.

"It’s not even worth getting rancorous now. If you’re still getting fooled, the joke is on you. In three years there have been so many missed benchmarks, empty timelines and impossibly complex explanations for a player missing months longer than he was supposed to that there’s simply nothing left to say." - Scott Kushner, nola.com

https://www.nola.com/sports/pelicans...4bbb467f6.html

Hey bud, maybe lay off the Zion visual jokes? It's not super funny and it seems to be all you are interested in posting.

[bundabergdevil]

Tyus Jones was part of NBA history last night. Grizzlies beat the Thunder by a record 73 points!

[SouthernDukie]

Hey bud, maybe lay off the Zion visual jokes? It's not super funny and it seems to be all you are interested in posting.

Agreed. Seems trollish to me.

[DukieInBrasil]

He's no Marshall Plumlee from deep, either!

like the Highlander, there can be only one...MP3. No, not that MP3, the other MP3...

big Zion.jpg


To date: 85 career NBA games played, 83 missed.

"It’s not even worth getting rancorous now. If you’re still getting fooled, the joke is on you. In three years there have been so many missed benchmarks, empty timelines and impossibly complex explanations for a player missing months longer than he was supposed to that there’s simply nothing left to say." - Scott Kushner, nola.com

https://www.nola.com/sports/pelicans...4bbb467f6.html

Scott Kushner can shove it up his a**. How many games is a player "supposed" to miss? Who is Zion trying to fool? Impossibly complex? He's injured ya douchnozzle, it's neither impossible to understand nor complex. Injuries happen to even the most physically fit people.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Agreed. Seems trollish to me.

Pretty clearly not a Duke fan.

[TheOldBattleship]

Tyus Jones was part of NBA history last night. Grizzlies beat the Thunder by a record 73 points!

Tyus has been fairly low-key as he often is in the NBA context, not putting up huge scoring numbers or assist numbers or anything, but this has almost certainly been the best year of his career thus far. He's just rock-solid for a young and sometimes too-fiery Memphis squad, he NEVER turns the ball over (assist/TO ratio is, of course, the number that always pops for him; will be fun to see him battle it out with Tre for the best a/to ratio for years to come), and he plays well with literally everyone on that team (the fit with Morant is a bit rough, which makes sense, but he's been a factor in Deanthony Melton figuring it out, that's for sure) so it's really easy to mix and match lineups around him. The fact that they've been able to count on him to come in and run the ship with Morant out is huge for their playoff chances.

Somewhat relatedly, this last 73-point win is going to hilariously skew every on/off stat for them for the entire year. Can't wait for people to forget about it and write some crazy takes later in the year about how the team is x number of points better without Morant or some such...

[Duke79UNLV77]

Zion return delayed

ESPN reporting that soreness in the foot has caused NO to hold Zion out of full contact practice which will further delay his return.

Assuming Zion can eventually get and stay healthy and he stays in NO for at least some more time, the one positive out of this year is that NO is so terrible without him that they could end up adding Paolo or Holmgren, although they would still be weak in the backcourt.

[MChambers]

Assuming Zion can eventually get and stay healthy and he stays in NO for at least some more time, the one positive out of this year is that NO is so terrible without him that they could end up adding Paolo or Holmgren, although they would still be weak in the backcourt.

Zion and Chet together on the court would be an interesting contrast in body shapes. Might be effective, though.

[SouthernDukie]

Zion and Chet together on the court would be an interesting contrast in body shapes. Might be effective, though.

But could Chet survive the practices matching up against Zion?

[JBDuke]

An interesting Friday for several Blue Devils in the NBA. Tatum leads the scoring pack with 37 in a loss to the Jazz. Ingram had a real stat-stuffer game with 24/8/12. Is 12 assists a career high for him? Gotta be close, if not. Kennard was hot, shooting 5/8 from 3 and totaling 19 points in 23.5 mins. Seth had a nice outing with 18 points, with 10 of those points on 2-point shots. And lastly, Carter had 10 point and 16 boards for the Magic.

[jimsumner]

Mason Plumlee one of four Hornets in COVID protocols. Charlotte called up Vernon Carey--among others-so maybe a chance for him to see the floor.

[TheOldBattleship]

Ingram had a real stat-stuffer game with 24/8/12. Is 12 assists a career high for him?

Ingram follows that career-high assist game with a 40 piece (on 15-28 shooting/7-8 from the line) tonight. He's in an absolute groove, but rough showing from the Pellies tonight defensively. They are just a total mess of a team right now. Maybe Zion fixes that, but it's not hard to see why the team/his team are not immediately eager to push him back. It'd be pretty shocking if even a full-strength Zion made this group anything above an ok team.

(Relatedly, this Houston team is pretty funny: they're having injuries to their talented but youthful starting lineup at the same time their older guys have been getting healthy, and thus after a disaster start they've been looking like an actual NBA team again now that they've been forced to play their veterans. You gotta think that at least some of these guys are going to get traded before too long. It'd be hilarious/sad if a fully healthy Eric Gordon tanked the tank for the Rockets. The guy can still play; here's hoping he finds his way to a contender at the trade deadline for the stretch run.)

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

But could Chet survive the practices matching up against Zion?

In a word, no.

[TheOldBattleship]

Ingram follows that career-high assist game with a 40 piece (on 15-28 shooting/7-8 from the line) tonight. He's in an absolute groove, but rough showing from the Pellies tonight defensively.

BI's highlights from this one are a thing of beauty. When the shot is falling (as it hasn't quite been as consistently this year as he works back from missing time (and as he contends with some SERIOUS focus from defenses with Zion out; it's ridiculous to watch him have three guys shading his way in the halfcourt at times)), he really has it all offensively. True three-level scorer. I've been super impressed by his ability to add strength without putting on a ton of weight. Jae'Sean Tate is a pretty good defender (who will be a really good defender later in his career, I think) who is an absolute fire hydrant, and Ingram gets a couple buckets at the cup by muscling him out of the way.

[Oriole Way]

BI's highlights from this one are a thing of beauty. When the shot is falling (as it hasn't quite been as consistently this year as he works back from missing time (and as he contends with some SERIOUS focus from defenses with Zion out; it's ridiculous to watch him have three guys shading his way in the halfcourt at times)), he really has it all offensively. True three-level scorer. I've been super impressed by his ability to add strength without putting on a ton of weight. Jae'Sean Tate is a pretty good defender (who will be a really good defender later in his career, I think) who is an absolute fire hydrant, and Ingram gets a couple buckets at the cup by muscling him out of the way.

I've always thought that Ingram is the closest thing to Kevin Durant the league has seen since KG entered the league. At least in terms of body type and overall game - not saying BI is as good as KD. But I think Ingram might have a chance to be close at his peak.

[jimsumner]

I've always thought that Ingram is the closest thing to Kevin Durant the league has seen since KG entered the league. At least in terms of body type and overall game - not saying BI is as good as KD. But I think Ingram might have a chance to be close at his peak.

As an aside, Brandon Ingram is 24 years old. He is not a finished product. At least, he shouldn't be.

[Billy Dat]

RJ Barrett, on the other hand, appears to be reverting back to rookie-year levels of performance.

https://theathletic.com/3000834/2021...im-and-knicks/ ($)
From the Athletic

"The two best all-encompassing measures of efficiency are true shooting and effective field-goal percentages. Since Nov. 5, 122 NBA players have averaged at least 10 shots per game. And of those 122, Barrett ranks 122nd … in both of those stats."

Ouch. Come on RJ, we need you, baby!

[SouthernDukie]

https://theathletic.com/3000834/2021...im-and-knicks/ ($)
From the Athletic

"The two best all-encompassing measures of efficiency are true shooting and effective field-goal percentages. Since Nov. 5, 122 NBA players have averaged at least 10 shots per game. And of those 122, Barrett ranks 122nd … in both of those stats."

Ouch. Come on RJ, we need you, baby!

Don’t be surprised if RJ goes to the bench as well. I don’t think he would fall completely out of the rotation, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Thibodeau didn’t reduce his role.

[Steven43]

like the Highlander, there can be only one...MP3. No, not that MP3, the other MP3...


Scott Kushner can shove it up his a**. How many games is a player "supposed" to miss? Who is Zion trying to fool? Impossibly complex? He's injured ya douchnozzle, it's neither impossible to understand nor complex. Injuries happen to even the most physically fit people.

Joel Embiid missed 215 out of a possible 246 games during his first three NBA seasons. Zion has already played in considerably more games than Embiid did and he still has the potential of playing in 40-45 games during the remainder of this season.